Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Curran S. 1998. Environment Handbook. TSO. Pp x +238. ISBN 0 11 310155 4. £25.

This small text is aimed at the business person who wishes to gain an overview of major environmental issues - it seeks to be a first-stop reference guide for corporate users. As such, legislation and regulatory frameworks are a key element. The 16 chapters cover a very wide range of subjects. After a very brief overview of the world environment, subsequent chapters tackle law and business (i.e. the green company). Much of what follows deals with pollution and its impact in all spheres - air, water and land. Waste management is sufficiently crucial for businesses for it to be given its own chapter. Energy follows with transport, land use and noise following. A final pair of chapters dealing with consumers and training completes the text with appendices on pollutants, contacts and a bibliography giving good information. It's always tricky to provide a brief overview for such a wide ranging topic. One does wonder about the audience. If the corporate sector is the target then there are other texts covering better ground. One would also doubt if it could be used as a starting point for the level of debate needed in the modern company. On the other hand it does provide a great deal of data with facts, figures and contacts. Perhaps this text is best suited to the reference section of the school library where its material would provide numerous ideas for projects and studies.